'Positive' rent plans welcomed by homeless charity

Stronger legal protections in Guernsey's rental market will protect those in insecure housing, according to a homelesness charity.

The island's Housing Committee said it wanted to introduce "basic requirements" for private rentals, including the existence and contents of tenancy agreements, with proposals set to be brought to the States by the end of the year.

Charlie Cox, chief executive of At Home In Guernsey, said making people feel more safe and secure in their home would make them better tenants, adding any new protections were a "positive".

Housing President Steve Williams said the States did not want to "put landlords off and increase bureaucracy".

Jersey and England have brought in stronger protections for tenants and landlords this year.

Jersey's updated residential tenancy law introduced rent controls, stricter termination rules and new landlord obligations.

In England, a shake-up to rental laws banned fixed term contracts and no-fault evictions were effectively abolished as landlords who want to remove a tenant must have a valid legal reason to do so.

Cox said the charity had dealt with a number of clients who were "ultimately forced into homelessness" because of poor situations with their landlords.

"These are situations they didn't even realise they could potentially be exposed to," she added.

Cox said she was also struck by the no-fault evictions protections in England.

"In comparison to other jurisdictions, Guernsey has very few protections for tenants," she said.

"In other places, they're really increasing the amount of regulation and protection for tenants as well as the protection for landlords to just bring more security around the private rental sector so we really welcome any improvements in that area."

In its work plan, the Housing Committee acknowledged Guernsey is an "outlier" among similar jurisdictions in having "very little legal protections".

However, Jeff Guilbert, chairman of the Guernsey Private Residential Landlords' Association, said he felt England and Jersey have gone too far.

He said both had leaned towards tenants' rights, especially when it comes to evictions.

"It's reflected in the amount of landlords in both those areas who have left," Guilbert said.

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